Pasadena city officials are searching for an explanation for the toppling of a 75-foot tree that injured 8 young children in a city park on Tuesday.
The large pine came crashing down inexplicably in the city’s Brookside Park shortly before 5 p.m., as a group of campers from the nearby Kidspace Children’s Museum were gathered outside. The children--two of whom were critically injured—ranged from 6 to 8 years of age.
An arborist’s examination of the tree began in earnest on Wednesday but, so far, the investigation has yielded no conclusive results.
"We don't have anything concrete yet as to the cause," said William Boyer, the city's spokesman. "At this moment we don't have anything that clearly says this is why this happened."
No obvious signs of disease or water deficiency were detected in the tree, according to City Manager Michael Beck. The park is routinely watered, he added, and has not been subjected to any harsh conservation efforts.
The city has also hired an independent expert to examine the 75-year-old pine, which is one of 40,000 trees in the park. In the meantime, a spokesman for the Pasadena Fire Department said the two critically-injured children are showing slight signs of improvement.
Read more about the investigation here.
Image Credit: Flickr User photos/on_earth, https://flic.kr/p/dbEEow (via CC BY 2.0)